Samuel Stephens (colonial manager)

Samuel Stephens (c. 1629 – 1669) was an English colonial administrator who served as the third proprietary Governor of Albemarle County, a portion of the Province of Carolina, from 1667 until his death in 1669.

Born in England around 1629, relatively little is known about Stephens' early life prior to his arrival in the Albemarle region. He was a planter and active in the developing colonial society.

Stephens’ governorship was marked by a period of relative stability and growth in the nascent colony. He oversaw the implementation of some of the Concessions and Agreements intended to govern the Carolina settlements, focusing on land distribution and maintaining peaceful relations with Native American tribes.

He is also noted for his marriage to the widow Frances Culpeper, later Frances Stephens Culpeper Berkeley Ludwell, in 1669. Frances Culpeper was a woman of considerable social standing and wealth; after Stephens' death she married William Berkeley, the Governor of Virginia, and later Philip Ludwell. Stephens' death occurred within a few months of his marriage to Frances Culpeper. His brief tenure was followed by Peter Carteret as governor.